Debriefing: Deception Pass Dash

The winner of the ladies surfski division, Heather Nelson, is seven months pregnant. Paddlers of all stripes--kayaks, outriggers, rowing skulls, SUPs--included at least two 70-year-olds and one former Olympian, Sherri Cassuto, who won her sea kayak class for a third year straight.

With skies an unlikely shade of blue and conditions uncharacteristically mellow, the fifth annual Deception Pass Dash race went off Saturday, Dec. 4, in northern Puget Sound, Washington. One-hundred and 50 boats finished with, including tandems and one triple-seater, 185 racers and even more spectators on shore at Deception Pass State Park’s Bowman Bay.

“A bunch of racers were actually griping about how the weather was too nice,” laughed Bill Walker, the race director, “because they like the challenge of the big conditions. But it was just a gorgeous day, and we don’t get much of that around here in wintertime.”

Ideal conditions, depending on one’s perspective, did not lead to any course records though. Rower Robert Meenk of Olympia, Wash., was the overall winner in 47 minutes, 36 seconds; a minute-plus shy of former Olympic gold medalist Greg Barton’s mark of last year.

C&K is rolling out full results, below, and a photo gallery by Gary Luhm.

And a few more money quotes from Walker:

 “We’ve been talking about having age divisions, but then some of the fastest people--like Cassuto, she’s 53--and a lot of our fastest paddlers are in their 50s. That’s kind of fun to see, but it doesn’t make sense for age divisions.”

 “The venue is what attracts people. And the other thing is nobody else is racing this time of year. But because it is winter, there’s no powerboat traffic out there to hassle you. If we tried doing this in July, you might just get run over.”

 “It’s feeling like a permanent tradition now. Not a whole lot more folks than last year, but a lot of new folks this year. The thing I noticed this year--the place was packed with spectators and even some press came out.”

 “The key part of the challenge to the race is Deception Pass itself, which drains a section of Puget Sound called Saratoga Passage. So when the tide drops, and with all the rivers coming in, it all comes through Deception Pass, which is about a half-mile across. All the water comes shooting through the pass and if you don’t time it right with the current, well, then you’re screwed.”

 “So when this whole thing was dreamed up, the idea was to start right before the forecasted slack current. But we’ve had years when the current started sooner than we thought and a third of the racers couldn’t get through.”